Final Fantasy IV: Quest of the Paladin novel
by Zombie-Cecil
Summary: A novelization of the popular RPG Final Fantasy IV. Contains strong language and violence. Slow work (1 page for every minute of gameplay)
1. Chapter One

Final Fantasy IV: The Quest Of The Paladin, A Novelisation.

Note to all. I have decided to make this, a novelisation of my favourite game ever, Final Fantasy IV. I know I am a crappy fanfic writer, however unlike my previous work, the horrendous Mental Goat Stupid, I am sober as I write this. After posting this first chapter, I'll rely on you people to tell me weither I should continue or not. If you want me to stop, I will, and likewise if you tell me to carry it on. Also tell me if it's really horrible, I will delete it promptly, and see to it that no-one else will have to endure something if it really sucks, then again Mental Goat seemed like a good idea at the time as well. I am doing this for a variety of reasons, 1: I have never read a good Final Fantasy IV fic. If there is one, tell me immediately, 2: Final Fantasy IV kicks ass, 3: I wanted to make subtle changes to make it more dramatic. 4: If Final Fantasy IV was remade in 3-D, I would want it to be like this. Enjoy

Chapter 1: The Skies Of Baron

The majestic red airships of Baron blazed through the brilliant blue sky. These were the ships of the infamous Red Wings, the main military force to the great kingdom, Baron. They had a traditional, red painted wooden exterior. Each side generously decorated with openings for cannons, should serious war ever surface. After all, war was expected after Barons attack on the magicians city, Mysidia. The interior was luxurious to say the least, but only if you were in the more high up ranks. With the expensive Champaign being served as if it were free and don't forget the magnificent Eblanese cuisine being handed to you from all angles, you could quite easily mistake this place for heaven. For your average soldier, however, life as a Red Wing was hard. Being restricted to claustrophobic living conditions and eating food far past it's use by date, only because theres nothing left, is hell. The deck was made up of hard wooden boards. It was in no mans language basic, for the Red Wing ships seemed to make anything look good, bar the soldier cabins of course. There were five of these ships passing through the sky, in a perfect, upside down "V" formation. On the leading ship was the captain of the Red Wings, Cecil.

Cecil Harvey was, and had always been, hard-working. By the time he was ten he had a steady job on top of being the top of his class at school. He was a rather tall young man, but wasn't a tower. He had medium length dark blue hair, it's because his hair always looked greasy that many people though he was a lowly peasant. His light blue eyes however were similar to the sea on a sunny day. They had a suspicious look in them however. Not bacause Cecil was a paranoid, suspicious guy, he was just quick to act out of anger, and he was rather careful of that. His pale skin made him look horribly under-nourished and because he was also a rather skinny guy he looked as though he had came from a poor family. If you didn't know who to look for, you wouldn't guess him as "The Hero of Baron," or even as the "Captain of The Red Wings," which was his proper title. When he was fifteen he took up training as a soldier. However, it was his magnificent skill with a blade that sent him down a different path of training; the path of the Red Wing. In two short years he had mastered the "Dark Sword," a technique which can take the average person up to fifty years to master. The King of Baron was most impressed, not only because of the boys skill, but also with his age, and the fact that he learned a complex ability in a fraction of the time. Immediately after learning this ability he was given a job in the Red Wings. It took him a mere four months to be promoted to Captain status. Cecil was often described by regular people as either a legendary warrior, or an unstoppable terrorist.

The Red Wings normally have a red uniform with yellow stripes down the arms, as do most captains, it is only because the king had him fitted with a special armour to compliment his weapon style that Cecil stood out. He had dark blue armour and his undershirt and trousers however were made of a black material with mystical properties. When he wore it, it made him want to fight, the anger fueled him through many victories. It also made him rather agile, and was good at protecting his skin. When he wore this, he barely suffered a scratch

On board the ship was the only place that Cecil really felt at home. Sure, he was royalty as far as the military goes, but this was the only place where he really felt in control of his surroundings, the ONLY place where people respected him instead of feared him. The only place where it was somewhat acceptable to wield a cursed weapon. Cecil gazed towards Mysidia, entranced by the beautiful forest, the magnificent mountains and the crisp sea that surrounded it. He was over the Mysidian sea, but he was going home. Back to Baron, and to Rosa. A single tear fell from the eyes of one of the lesser Red Wings. Coale was not usually one to let his feelings show, but he just had to let it out. He last at least an inch taller than Cecil, and was roughly two years older. He had a light tan in his skin, ruffled brown hair, and dark eyes. The tear fell suddenly, as if he was waking from a trance. It rolled down his cheek, and landed on the wooden floor. It was now that he spoke up.

"What did we do?" he said softly, then he spoke a little louder. "What the hell did we do!" Cecil broke away from his gaze on the now distant Mysidian coastline and walked towards Coale. His first intention was to comfort the, obviously rather upset man, but then Cecil began to think to himself. _Wait, he's a soldier, he should be able to look after himself. He can't spend his life crying for things that cannot be helped. _

"Hey, Coale, you did good today. You shouldn't worry, we got what we came for." All Cecil wanted was to encourage the guy. He did, of course kill more of the enemy than even Cecil did. "The mission would have failed if it weren't for you. You should be proud of yourself," Cecil reassured him.

"What the hell did we do today captain?" Coale asked.

"We took the Water Crystal." Cecil answered. He was now growing annoyed with the soldier.

"Yeah, but we took the crystal from a bunch of magicians who didn't even TRY to resist!" Anger was growing in Coales voice.

"His Majesty has already said that we need the crystal. The mages knew too much of the crystals secret and, therefore, were a threat to us." Cecil said this informatively. _His Majesty has already told us this, why don't you listen?_

"And that's why we murdered the Mysidians? To attack a fully armed country is war, but to steal a shiny crystal for the King's trophy, killing several innocent people in order to achieve the task is cowardice!" Coale was really upset now, and there were tears in his voice. Another drop fell to the soldier of his red uniform.

"We were doing as the king desired," Cecil said, "and by the way Coale, you killed more than anyone today." Cecil gloated. Cecil regretted the fateful words as soon as he had let them escape his lips, but nothing can change the past. He expected what he got.

"I'm not proud of what I did sir, but do "Kings wishes" justify mindless slaughter?!" Coale yelled at his superior. Punishment meant jack-shit to him now. They could chop of the bastards head, but the truth never remains silent. At least not in Coales eyes.

"If I were you, I would never have said that. Because I'm such a nice 'murderer,' I will give you another chance, however you'd better do a hell of a lot of ass-kissing before you get that promotion you've been bitching about." Cecil was ready to turn and forget it had ever happened. He wasn't really going to hold out on Coales promotion, it was an empty threat. How could he take away a promotion from someone who is supporting a wife and a child, with another one on the way. All he wanted was for the young soldier to get back in line. Coale spat at his superior. It was a good shot too, right in the eye. Spinning around, Cecil drew his sword and quickly raised it to the soldiers neck, holding the hilt with his right hand in one quick movement. The Dark grayish-blue blade glinted in the sunlight. Cecil was lucky he had good control. Anyone trying to make a closer strike would have sliced the boy's throat.

"I should kill you for that now. Insulting a military leader is a felony, you should know that. YOU sentenced the villiage drunk to death for attempting to push you into the mud," Cecil said. Almost twenty Red Wings had gathered on the deck. For someone with a sword pointed at their neck, Coale was acting rather calm. He had stopped crying, and was more focused towards anger than to sadness and remorse.

"Wouldn't that screw up your career Cecil? The career that is so fucking important to you? so much more important than another humans life?!" Coale was really pissed off now. He seemed to forget the sword pointed at his neck. The thing that hurt Cecil was the fact that everything Coale had said was true. What the hell had happened to him? What would Rosa say? What would the great kingdom of Baron say? 'Cecil? you mean the murderer who thought he was above all other life?' Cecil hated Coale for what he had said. He didn't think he was above all other life. He only did what he did, because the military was all Cecil had really had in his life. Cecil muttered under his breath...

"DarkWave" The force pushed Cecil back a couple of feet, and a gust of black wind sent Coale flying over the side of the ship. Coale almost fell off the side, but one of his colleagues grabbed on to Coales foot. The soldier was dangling over the edge of the airship. Cecil sheathed his sword and began to walk into the cabins when the pilot yelled an announcement into the loudspeaker.

"Monsters attacking from behind! Arm yourselves! Protect the Crystal, and the land of His Majesty, King Baron the Thirty-seventh!" Cecil looked toward the crystal. _I could use just a tiny bit of the crystals magic. All that's going to come of the crystal is further death to whoever our next enemy is, but I can use the crystal to help people. I will save the Red Wings. I will be a hero. I can help with it's power..._ There were too many thoughts about the crystal going through Cecil's head at the time. It's like death wasn't a possibility. The crystal was making him forget about his sword, even what he had done to the Mysidians and to Coale. Without hesitation he took the crystal in him right hand, his shield in his left. With all his might, he squeezed the crystal.

A baby Zuu was gaining on the ship. It's huge wings flapping. A sickly stench was drowning the ship. The creatures obese, rotting flesh was catching up to the ship. It's hollow, soulless body was following the Red Wings closely. Coale readied his bow and shot and arrow that pierced the giant birds eye. It staggered a bit, and slowly fell into the sea, struggly to keep alive. Another Zuu approached, a fully grown one this time. Again, Coale readied his bow and fired. The giant bird dodged. Another Red Wing ran to strike the Zuu with a sword. He jumped onto the creatures back and, with all his might, drove his cold, silver-steel blade into the creatures back. This injured the Zuu, but it was not dead yet. With all of it's might it darted across the sky in front of the ships, showing everyone. They onlooked in horror. However, the soldier on his back stayed where he was, for now, anyways. The twenty-five foot bird finally flung him off into the air. As the brave soldier fell, the Zuu swooped down, and caught the warrior in it's horrible jaws.

It was when the Zuu came back for the main course that Cecil closed his eyes in fear and muttered a spell under his breath. When he opened his eyes the gargantuan bird was still burning away, and beginning to fall away in a pile of ash into the sea. There were still a few more monsters left and they were gaining on the ship quickly. Two Zuu's and a Cockatrice mounted Imp were flying towards the ship. _Is the crystal this important to them? even the monsters are attacking us, _Cecil though to himself. He took care of one of the Zuu's first. Again he closed his eyes, and when he reopened them, the Zuu was an ice statue, falling into the ocean. Coale took care of the other Zuu, piercing his neck with a glowing fire arrow, which started to slowly incinerate the beast. The Imp was drawing closer, it's vile tongue, praying in Impish. The filthy green creature drew his sword and jumped off of the back of it's yellow feathered, eagle-like steed. His slimy green skin shined in the light of the sun, as the four-foot demon charged at Cecil. Cecil decided this would be a better job for his sword. He threw his shield at the creature to knock it down, and drew his sword with his left hand, holding the crystal in his right. He pinned the creature, and thrust the blade into the horrible monsters neck. He got up, and switched the handling of his weapons. He was know holding his Dark Sword in his right hand, and the crystal in his left.

As he turned around, one of the Red Wing ships was going down, and another was suffering badly. The ship formation changed to a triangle, with Cecil in the middle. Cecil didn't see why the formation was so damn important at a time like this. Many of the Red Wings were badly injured when another wave of Imps had reached the airship. Coale hit a Cockatrice while it was in mid-air to take out both the Imp and it's transport when another Imp jumped off the bird it was riding and impaled the brave soldier through his middle. In a flash, so quick it may not have happened at all, Coale was dead. Years of life, pouring through his abdomen. Cecil focused his anger into the crystal when a gigantic tidal wave was summoned from the magic withing the crystal. All the remaining monsters died in the vast quantity of water. Thier bones snapped into a million peices, and they fell into the sea to die.

The captain of the Red Wings looked north and saw Baron. He was nearly home. he walked towards the fallen Coale, he knelt by the dead boys side.

"If only you had lived, you would have been MY superior." Cecil felt partially responsible for what had happened. Why did he lead the attack on Mysidia so mercilessly? Was this his punishment? Cecil wiped away a single tear and looked at all he had lost. Three quarters of the Red Wings were wiped out. "Prepare to land," he said to the pilot grimly.

"Preparing to land," the pilot said. He noticed the sadness in the captains voice. "Hey, are you O.K cap?" he asked with honest compassion.

"You know what? For someone who lost almost an entire airforce I'm doing okay," he said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. The airship began to descend into the great kingdom of Baron. Cecil knew what his next trial was. Confronting the king. Explaining to him why there is only a tiny fraction left of the Red Wings. The Dark Knight didn't wnt to do it. He wanted to run away and leave Baron forever. He couldn't face the people of Baron after attacking a fellow soldier, for letting their relatives die... For leading the assault.

Cecil slowly walked towards the steps of castle Baron. The great castle was over a hundred feet tall and had existed for as long as anyone could remember. Rumours say that it was here before the settlers had even been this far south of Damcyan, and that was at least six thousand years ago. The castle was made entirely out of a very strong concrete brick. Although it had existed for several thousands of years, it didn't look like it had aged a day. As Cecil aproached, he saw that General Baigan was talking to one of the guards outside of "The Great Gates" of Baron. It turned out that he was waiting for Cecil, and was trying to dig as much dirt as he could about the dark knight. Baigan was a short man of about 5"4' due to his hunch. He had slicked back blonde hair, green eyes and had been the king's advisor for several years. This was a job he wanted to keep, the only way he could do this was by telling the king certain details that make the "subjects" look even worse than Baigan himself.

"Sir Cecil, the King wishes to speak with you." Cecil knew that this wasn't a very good sign at all. When the king sends Baigan as a messenger, it is either good news or bad news, and there wasn't a lot of good news that could come from this. "Do you have the Water Crystal of the Mysidian Kingdom with you?" Cecil showed him the crystal. As he produced the crystal, he noticed that it wasn't as shiny as it had been before. It was still a beautiful sight of course, but it wasn't the marvel it was as hour ago. Baigan whispered something to himself that Cecil didn't quite catch, but it sounded like _"The bastard actually completed the mission. I hope the king sees that the fact that the fact that the Red Wings are practically gone is more important than the fact his 'son' brought back the crystal."_ Baigan eyed Cecil suspiciously and said in a voice that Cecil could hear. "Follow me, Sir Cecil," Baigan said with a slight grin. Baigan knew that the King was going to be somewhat unimpreesed with the current turn of events.

Cecil followed Baigan through the castles brick rooms and over the dark brown floors. Cecil, occassionaly looked at the previous kings of Baron. _What would the great King Baron the fifth think of me, hell even King Baron the fourteenth would hate me and he was a dictator!_ Cecil thought to himself sadly. Then he finally reached the door outside the throne room. Baigan told Cecil to wait, and Cecil did so very gladly. That is, of course, until Baigans hatred for everything crept into Cecils mind. The wicked grin on the advisors face wasn't helping ease Cecils guilty conciense. _Oh shit, Baigan's having a few "words" with the king. What's the bet I'll be fired now?_

Baigan opened the door and Cecil saw the sick look of satisfaction on Baigans face.

"You may come in now Sir Cecil." Now Cecil was sure that he was going to get fired. He walked in slowly and King Baron eyed him carefully, as if Cecil was going to kill him at any given moment. The look of suspicion in Barons eyes hurt Cecil deeply. The King was a hairy man, who stood at 6"2', when he did stand, and had a large belly on him. Normally he was a kind man, especially towards Cecil. While he was teaching Cecil the Dark Sword, he thought he had found a son in the young fighter. In the past month's however, the king was growing conspicuous and had a short temper. The King Baron that tought Cecil to fight wasn't the same King Baron that sat for hours with no-one for company but Baigan. Frequently talking to himself when Baigan wasn't around.

"Lord Harvey." the king said, sitting in his throne. "You attack fellow soldiers to gain respect now?" Baigan smiled, however the king had a serious look on his face. "Or do you just want people to fear you?" Anger echoed through Barons voice.

"Your majesty, I cast Darkwave on Coale in hopes of getting him back in line." Cecil stated. "He verbally assualted me and spat in my eye."

"If I had a dark sword pointed towards my neck I would spit at you too, Lord Harvey. Not only that, put your little stunt almost sent him over the edge. I also hear that you let no remorse show, not even to help Coale up." _Damn you Baigan._ "I put you into this mission because you, normally, kept your temper out of others sight, not because you were someone your fellow Red Wings were frightened of," Cecil was now staring at his feet. He knew why the king was stating these, somewhat muddled facts. Baigan. Cecil looked at Baigan and noticed that the slimy rat was barely able to keep his everlasting joy inside of himself. If he wasn't in the presence of the king, Cecil would kill Baigan himself. "Speaking of the mission, where is my crystal?" Cecil silently produced the Crystal. Baigan walked towards Cecil, took the crystal, and handed it to the king. It was now that the most peculiar thing happened. The Kings eyes grew wide, and he now had a wicked smile on his face. The king licked his lips.... "Ahh... Water... The very essence of life...." The king said, almost as if he was in a trance. The King of Baron looked deep into the crystal and then his long gaze snapped away, back towards Cecil. "Lord Harvey, when I send you on a task to bring me the crystal, that does not permit you to use the crystal at your own expence." Cecil was shocked. _How could he know about that?_

"But, your magesty I-" Cecil was cut off by the King

"If you get out of line again, I will make sure you regret it. You have just been demoted to an ordinary Red Wing. I permit you to wear your current armour. You may have one chance to get to your old status, on one condition. Take this ring to Mist, the villiage of the summoners." Cecil looked at the ring in the kings hand. It was a fiery red, and it had a precence of evil around it. The King threw the ring to Cecil, now, get out of my sight." Cecil left the throne room a broken man. He couldn't fuck up any more missions, he couldn't afford to have himself demoted again. However he couldn't help but wonder why the King would want a simple ring to be taken to a villiage that has an unconfirmed modern exisstence.

End of Chapter one.

So, what did you think, what was your favourite part, what was your least favourite?

Maybe If I get enough responses, I'll put more detail into the castle scene. My favourite part to write was the fight on the airship, that was a fun scene. So is it more dramatic or not. I'll wait for your responses!

I have edited this story three times now. There, all typos are due to my bad spelling. A little bit more description is in this first chapter, although, it doesn't make a hell of a lot of difference... :(


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter 2: The Ring Get's Warmer...

Cecil peered deep into the ring the King had given him. The ruby crystal on it shined, possibly almost as much as the water crystal. The crystal he had stolen. Guilt still raced through Cecils mind. _What's the deal with this thing? A ring? Aweek long trip to deliver it? I already miss my captain position._ Cecil felt the red-gold band attached to it get hot. _It's better not to think about it... _Cecil thought._ It's just a simple ring. Deliver it and you'll be back where you were... Like nothing had ever happened. Although... If it's just a ring, then why do I need to deliver it..._ Once again, Cecil was lost in thought. So lost that he couldn't feel the ring gently burning his hand.

"HEY! Cecil!" a voice called out to Cecil. He put the ring away in his pocket quickly. Cecils best friend Kain approached from the east dinner room. Kain was less than a year older than Cecil was. Ever since they met in school lessons, they had been inseperable friends. Kain was the same height as Cecil was, maybe a little shorter, he had light blue eyes and a friendly smile on his face. Kain flicked a wisp of honey-blonde hair out of his face before approaching Cecil. Unlike Cecil, Kain turned down the path of the dark knight, in favour of a more 'honourable' path. A more traditional path. Kain was a Dragoon. His armour was a light grey, and his green helmet had fins on the sides, and the part that Kains face showed through was like a dragons mouth. Kain was a master of spears. "Hey, I heard what happened," Kain said, trying to help his friend "I'm just glad that you're alive." Cecil looked at his friends face.

"The king doesn't seem so pleased." Kain looked puzzled.

"What do you mean, Cecil?"

"I've been stripped of my command of the Red Wings," Cecil was trying not to show any emotion to his friend, although he wanted to explode. _Fuck Baigan. Fuck the King. Fuck Baron. _

"Cecil..." Kain didn't know what he could say to make his friend feel better. "Why?" Kain knew that it wouldn't help, but what would?

"I assualted another Red Wing and I talked back to the king." Cecil said _And I used the crystal to SAVE people. Not like the king's corrupt plan._

"What?" Kain was shocked at how little remorse Cecil had shown. Anyone would be showing at least a little bit of pain by now. "Where is this soldier? I'm sure he could tell the king it was a misunderstanding, I mean-" Kain was cut off by Cecil

"Coale is dead now." Cecil looked towards the ground before speaking softly. "I can't ask him for forgiveness." Cecil began to turn to his sleeping quarters in the north-west tower. "I can be back to my previous ranking..." Cecil said "If I take an artifact to the forgotten town of Mist..." Cecil started to walk to his room. He wanted to be alone.

Kain didn't know what had happened to Cecil. He had no emotion in his voice, as he was normally a rather charismatic figure. Cecil became rather formal, as if speaking to a colleage than to his friend. Kain returned to his meal. _In the morning,_ Kain decided, _I'm leaving with Cecil. If theres anytime I can help him, it's on a long, foot-travelling mission._ Kain felt better knowing that he could persuade the King into letting him go with Cecil AND help a friend on the way.

The reality had set in for Cecil. He had no power. He was an ordinary soldier, with a different uniform, of course. Everything he had worked hard for was gone. He seemingly floated through Barons halls. On the way he was stopped by Rosa.

Rosa was another of Cecils friends, one whom he had grown to love very dearly, and had done since he was eight years old. While everyone was going through the 'girls are icky' phase, Cecil was planning how he would propose to Rosa, when the time had come. Rosa was three inches shorter than Cecil was. Her hair was platinum blonde, and for a nineteen year old, she was well developed. Her eyes were an emerald green, which complimented her lightly tanned skin, and she was a trainee White Mage. Cecil was saving for a wedding ring for Rosa when he was put down a rank in Barons military list, and up a rank in Barons most feared list.

"Cecil, is it true what they say?" Rosa asked the Dark Knight, "Was the entire force wiped out?" Cecil didn't know how to answer Rosa. What would he say to her? Rosa began to cry. She hugged Cecil around his torso, almost as if she would never let go.

"Rosa, I'm O.K, you don't have to cry." It hurt Cecil when Rosa cried.

"Is it also true that you attacked someone in your squad?" Rosa asked again. Cecil wasn't expecting this question to come across. he looked at the ground in the narrow hall.

"Yes," Cecil answered solemnly. What would Rosa say to him, would she ever want to see him again? _She must hate me_ Cecil thought. Instead, Rosa hugged him tighter. After a few more minutes of being hugged, Rosa left to go to the White Mages training room. She left silently, Cecil resumed walking to his room. Cecil was almost at the door when another familiar face appeared. _Why can't everyone just leave me alone..._

Cid was the airship builder in Baron, although he looked like just another dirty old man. He had thick glasses that light couldn't penentrate, and he was about 5"4', wighing almost 200 lbs. Because of this, he looked much older than he really was, he was 56 and he was mistaken for being in his sixties

"What the hell happened?" Cid yelled. Cecil had had enough of being asked questions. Even worse was the fact that they were all the same. Cid could tell and changed the subject. "Hey, how're my beauties going?" Cid always refered to his airships as his beauties, he always placed all of his time into making machines. Airships, hovercraft, you name it, Cid can have it ready by the morining. Well, not quite, but not much longer. "I don't want your crewmen abusing them... Hey, what's with the face."

"We were attacked on our way home. Most of the squad is dead, an airship went down, and the four remaining need serious repairs." Cid looked upset.

"Hey, you did your best." Cid assured Cecil. "I feel alot better knowing that your the one in charge of the ships."

"To tell you the truth Cid, I've been demoted, but if I do a simple mission, I could be back to my post withing a couple of weeks."

"Who does the king want you to kill now? And what's with his majesty lately? he keeps on telling me to make a new type model of Airship, but I don't want to make war machines!" Cid was outraged. No-one but Cecil should command Cid's ships.

"Nobody will die in this mission Cid. I just have to deliver this to a villiage." Cecil produced the ring from his pocket.

"That ring..." Cid said. Cecil could tell that there was something he had been kept in the dark about. "Cecil, please don't deliver that ring."

"Why not?"

"Just listen to me. Don't take that ring to whatever villiage you were told to." Cid said, almost commanding Cecil. "Well, I've gotta go home. I've been spending too much time working, and my daughters giving me hell about it!" Cid left to go home, and how Cid had acted had given Cecil suspicion about the mission. _What's the deal? I mean, It's just a ring after all. _Cecil felt the ring get warmer and warmer the more he thought about it.It glowed more and more, until Cecil decided to put the ring away and try to foget about it. He entered the north-west tower.

"Sir Cecil, I've changed the sheets. I hear you're leaving early tommorow?" said one of the more elderly castle maids. She wasn't quite five foot due to the hump in her back, and had white hair, green-brown eyes and was dressed in a ragged dress.

"Yes, that's right." Cecil didn't want to talk anymore. He'd had enough talking for one day.

"Good luck. Rest well tonight," she said cheerfully. Cecil just wanted to sleep. Tommorrow would be a new day, a new chance at his career. Maybe he could get back to where he was. The maids attitude had surprised him_. How could such a lowly job still leave you with a happy outlook on life? _Cecil began to think. _Maybe I could still live a happy life without the Red Wings. Naw. I wouldn't be able to cope with something like cleaning. Too boring, and no-one ever notices your hard work._ Cecil came to the conclusion that he thought to much, and that it was bad for him. His own thought's were depressing. _Shit, I even have to bow down to BAIGAN now._

Cecil climbed the steps to his room. His room was always dark, even in the day, and there was always a lantern burning. His walls were decorated with various trophies. There were two golden swords he won in a swordplay tournament. They were for display purposes only. Not worthy of actual fighting. Although his prized trophy wasn't really his. It was a strange helmet, passed to to him from his father.

Actually, now that he thought of it, he had never met his father. His mother died shortly after he had become a Red Wing, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember his father, or even anything his mother might've told Cecil about his father. _Mother didn't tell me anything about my father, apart from the fact he gave me a helmet. Maybe that was because he wasn't worth remembering._ Cecil had always had a positive image of his father, but maybe it wasn't so. Cecil wanted to rest. Nevermind it was only five in the afternoon. Battle always wore him down. So did stress.

Cecil drifted off to sleep in no time at all. At about eleven at night he was woken by a soft voice.

"Cecil?" It was Rosa. Cecil turned away from her. "What happened Cecil? One minute you're being sent to Mysidia, the next you're being sent off to take a ring to a villiage!" Rosa said, almost yelled at Cecil. _Cid must have said something to her._ "And you've been acting strange since you came back." Cecil wasn't expecting her to say that.

"It's nothing."

"Then please, don't look away from me." Cecil gave in. He decided it would be better for him to tell Rosa the truth.

"In Mysidia... I killed innocent people... Plundered their villiage... Stole their crystal...All for what?! Why did I do such a thing?!" Cecil felt better, getting it off his chest, but he was still upset. He rolled over to face Rosa. "It's as if my heart has become as dark as my armour." Cecil looked up at the ceiling.

"Cecil...You're not like that." Rosa said. Cecil didn't seem very assured with what Rosa had just said. Cecil turned away again and this time had to supress his feelings.

"I'm just a heartless, spineless Dark Knight. A mere pawn of the king." Cecil began to cry. Rosa turned around to leave the room.

"The Cecil of the Red Wings I know would NEVER whimper like that! No, not the Cecil I love... You're going to Mist tomorrow. Right?" _Is that how she trully feels? Hang on a sec... how did she know I had to take the ring to Mist? Kain?_

"Right."

"If anything happens to you, I..." Rosa trailed off.

"I'll be careful. It's late, get some rest Rosa.

"Still, even if something does...."

"I'll be fine Rosa." Rosa left the room, it was late, and all the crying she had done earlier had worn her out. "Thanks Rosa, but I'm only a Dark Knight," he said. Not really to Rosa, because she wasn't in the room. More to himself. "What can I do?" Cecil stopped talking to himself and went to sleep.

In the morning, Cecil woke up a little later than he had wanted to set off, but seven was still a decent time though. Whats half an hour in a week-and-a-half long journey anyway? Cecil left his room. He looked around, he wouldn't see Baron for another week, and he wanted to remember it. Cecil made sure he had the ring. It grew slightly warmer in his pocket. When Cecil entered the main hall of the castle, he was surprised to see Kain waiting for him.

"Hey, sleepyhead! I've been waiting half an hour for you. We're late!" Cecil was shocked to hear what Kain had said.

"Excuse me Kain. We?" Cecil didn't quite believe what Kain was saying, and he was saying it so cheerfully as well.

"Yeah, I talked the king into letting us both go. He didn't disagree of course once I told him that we'de have a better chance together of completing the mission, as opposed to you doing it on your own." Cecil still wasn't completely assured by Kain.

"Whats the catch?" Cecil asked the Dragoon.

"Well, if you WANT a catch, how about a bet?"

"What? O.K, I'm game, whats the wager?"

"If I beat the phantom beast in the cave..." Said Kain, trying to get Cecils interest.

"You know that the "Tale Of The Phantom Beasts" is an old myth Kain"

"Nononono, listen to me. Whoever beats the phantom beast gets BOTH our pay." Kain said, eagerly.

"And if the damn thing doesn't exist?" Cecil asked. He was completely unamused by Kains bet.

"Earth to Cecil! remember, Mist is the villiage of summoners, if they wanted to make a phantom beast, they'de make one. And they did, according to the legend." Kain stated. He felt he was right, and Kain had a tendency to be right about these things.

"But if the summoner dies, then theres no summoning to protect the villiage, therefore that Dragon hasn't existed for thousands of years!" Cecil said. The two were getting wierd looks from bystanders and passers by.

"But the dragon has been passed down as an heirloom!" Kain rebuttled. Cecil didn't see the point in arguing with Baron's number one debater.

"Look, Kain, can we just go now?" asked the Dark Knight to the Dragoon

"Good idea." Kain agreed and the two were off. Baigan smiled from the balcony as the two left the great gates.

"That leaves the two out of the masters plan. We will reign supreme!"

Thus, the Dark Knight Cecil was stripped of his command of the Red Wings. He was ordered to journey to Mist, with a good friend at his side. Mist... The provincial villiage which lay beyond the mountains in a valley incased by deep a fog...

Airships... Flight long had been an unnatainable dream of mankind. These vessels gave men the power to soar through th heavens. Soon, like all of mankinds gifts, it became a tool of greed. The country of Baron became the world's strongest military power through the airships, the Red Wings... But why would such a wonderful country seek out the crystals? What power do they hold? Why does mankind corrupt every realisation of it's dreams? And why are the monsters increasing, even in daylight?

The Crystals shed thier light gently...

There! hope I'm still keeping true to the game. Yes, upon playing the game, Kain did enter the throne room while Cecil was still in there, but at least now It'll feel like Kain is a true friend to Cecil, instead of being forced to go to Mist. BTW, the original mission was to destroy the phantom beast. I wanted to change from the path, just a little bit. Hey, by the time they arrive in Mist, does it matter? No. The next chapter won't be so serious, not like this one was (And the one before it I might add) The next chapter will follow Cecil and Kain, as they go to the Mist Cave, and finish just before they enter.

PS: I've changed the whole Rosa as Cid's daughter thing. I'm sure she was though...

_A rhetorical question_

In The next chapter:

Kain's amazing decision to try catch a chocobo. I'll try and make it funny, I'm not very good at funny at the moment

Fight scenes! After all, what would Final Fantasy be without random encouters? I wasn't shitting when I said that I wanted this fic to be as close to the game as possible was I?

Amazing fact No. 1: There is, on average, on page of this fanfic for every minute of gameplay.

Amazing fact No. 2: There are 40 hours of gameplay in this game

Amazing fact No. 3: If you multiply 60 (Minutes per hour pages per hour) by 40 (hours of gameplay) this fic'll turn out to be 2,400 pages if I continue at my current rate

Amazing fact No. 4: I'm going to be working on this my entire fucking life!

Thanks for all the support I've by been getting. The first chapter is always the hardest. Roughly a sentence has been added to the fic now! WHOOOOAAAAAHHHH!!!!!! However, my fic will never get better if you don't tell me what needs to be improved.


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter 3: Forests and Mountains and Desrts (Oh, my!)

Over his career as a Red Wing, Cecil spent most of his time in the air. It would take half an hour to get from Baron to Damcyan. He had forgotten what it was like to walk a long way. Or, really, walk at all. Sometimes the walk to his room would tire Cecil out. _Still six more days of non-stop hiking,_ he thought to himself. _I'm gonna fucking DIE out here. _The warm morning sun was nice. It wasn't until mid-day that Cecil would start to suffer sunburn. Kain however was enjoying it. A long the way he would sing cheerful songs. Most of them were either about water or the sky. Both were close to the Dragoon heart. Both of these depressed Cecil.

"Kain, we're not gonna survive this trip are we?" Cecil said.

"Oh, come on Cecil, of course we will." said the cheerful Dragoon. "Well, I will at least. You're the only one with a problem, as far as I can see."

"How far have we gotten?" asked Cecil.

"Well," Kain begun. "I can still see the castle, so we're no where near our destination."

"Damn." Cecil was unfit, swordplay doesn't really excersise your legs very much. Cecil looked across the plains of Baron. He really wished that he had gotten some more water, half of it was already gone and they had only been walking for no more than an hour. It felt like Cecil had been walking forever though. Already he had forgotten the feel of a cool breeze, as Cecil stood on the deck of an airship. Cecil wiped a droplet of sweat from his forehead when he remembered that feeling. A gust of wind brushed past the two. A light brown feathered eagle turned around for another shot, after missing the first time. This time the winged demon picked the tired Dark Knight as his prey. Cecil was knocked down by the eagle when it landed on his chest. The scavenger bird squaked at Cecil's face. Kain readied his spear and jabbed it through the birds back. It gave one last dieying squaked before slumping on Cecils face. Cecil rolled over and set the bird on it's back.

"Your going soft Cecil."

"Shut up Kain, I'm not used to walking a long distance." Cecil said angrily. Once Cecil said this, a twinkle of light came to Kains eye.

"Who says we have to walk" Kain said with a wicked grin on his face.

"What the hell are you talking about Kain? And get that grin off your face, it's creeping me out."

"Cecil, remember when we were little and you, me and Rosa all went to the Chocobo Forest that one time?" Cecil didn't like where this was going. Normally when Kain had that type of grin on his face, something bad was going to happen.

"Well, we could always catch a Chocobo..."

"Kain, no."

"It's easier than walking isn't it? And YOU wouldn't have to do any work. Chances are, we'll be safer from monsters as well. So???" Cecil was beginning to sway toward Kains proposition. It would be very easy to get a Chocobo, and even easier when Cecil didn't have to do any walking. "C'mon Cecil, it'll be fun!" There was that damn line. That's what always got Cecil into trouble.

"Fine then. Will we still have to walk across the desert?" Kain didn't want to tell Cecil that the answer was yes.

"Well, we can stick closer to the mountains, if you prefer."

"Will it take any longer?" Cecil asked. He wouldn't mind trekking the desert if it ment he could get to the Chocobo Forest any longer.

"It may Cecil, It may." Kain said. "It could take a little longer due to the higher monster count."

"I think that we should follow the mountain line. Chances are there'll be a cool stream running down the hillside." Cecil drew his sword now, better now than after he was ambushed again.

After roughly half an hour of walking they finally reach the mountain side. Cecil was right there was a stream. Cecil cupped his hands and dipped them into the cool, clear water. He raised his hands to his mouth, and the taste was unexpectantly fresh.

"Kain have some." Cecil urged his friend. Kain hadn't had any water yet. His flask was still full. When he did have a taste he emptied the water in his flask.

"When I grow old, and retire from the Dragoon force of Baron, I want to live here. Waters fresh. The shade of the trees is cool." Kain said, looking at the nature around him. He removed his helmet and moistened the interior of it with water, placed it on his head and refilled his flask with the river water. Cecil did the same, only Cecil dunked his whole head in instead.

"As nice of a place this is, we need to move on. We'll never complete the mission if we stay here..." A few rocks moved down the side of the mountain. Kain was too busy drinking to notice the Imp that pouncing on him. It landed on Kain's chest. The creature was strangling Kain with one hand and holding a short blade above the Dragoon with the other.

"Lookshee watt wee foundsh" The green menace said to himself. Cecil grabbed the Imp by it's neck, lifted his arm a little, leaving a spot in the creatures throat open, slid the blade under his arm and cut the Imps throat. Kain watched the menace bleeding to death slowly.

"We're even now." Said Cecil. It was odd that they were attcked in the same way. Cecil pointed his blade in the direction of where the Imp had come from. "DarkWave!" Cecil yelled and another Imp ran from behind a rock, scurrying away into the overgrowth.

"I think we should hurry now." Said Kain. He wasn't used to being attacked, and while Cecil had many near-death experiences in his life, this was Kain's first. He climbed up from the ground, collected his flask, his shield and his spear and walked quickly westwards. He wanted to get to the Chocobo forest quicker than even Cecil did.

"Still want to retire here?" Cecil asked jokingly.

"Shut up Cecil." Cecil laughed. It was rather uncharacteristical of Kain to be scared, but he was shitting himself when he saw the Imp's dirty blade being held above him. Kain would have joked with Cecil, if they had been in each others shoes. Kain had more important things on his mind. "Where shall we spend the night? somewhere where we won't get slaughtered as we sleep."

"Well, I don't think Imp's can climb trees very well. Better there than on the ground."

"That won't stop Floateye's or Eagles though."

"Floateye's live in thick forests, all we are looking for is a couple of trees, and Eagles hunt during the day in wide open areas, that's why I was attacked. Imps can't climb trees and a Swordrat would have to have perfect aiming to hit us with it's needles. Besides, Swordrats needles couldn't kill us with the armour we wear."

"Alright, so when shall we sleep then, o knowledgable master? When can I buy your Bestiary?" The Kain that Cecil had known was back. Same as he ever was.

"Well, one: Swordrat's are the only noctournals in the area, but I say after sundown should do it. We won't be able to see where we're going if we leave any later." Cecil couldn't believe how much wisdom was in his words. He couldn't believe how much he new about the local wildlife either. "Two, good friends can have my bestiary for free, should it ever be started." Kain laughed.

"O.K then o knowledgable master"

"And three, don't call me 'o knowledgable master' ever again. Imp's can't climb trees, but I certainly can." Kain laughed even harder. Any predators would run scared due to how hard Kain was laughing.

After a few more hours of walking, talking, and jokingly threatening each other, Cecil pointed ahead.

"Kain, Kain, LOOK KAIN!" Cecil yelled.

"What is it Cecil?" Kain couldn't see what was so magnificent. The sun was starting to set. YIPPEEKIYIYAY!

"Is that the Chocobo forest?" Cecil asked Kain, refering to the Oval forest to the east.

"I think so. It looks like a Chocobo Forest." Kain stated.

"How can you tell?" Cecil asked

"Well, Chocobo forests are usually round. I could be wrong, but if there is any Chocobo forest in the area, that'd be it."

"O knowledgable one! When can I buy your work on Chocobos?" Cecil mocked Kain.

"Just remember, I can climb trees too." The two laughed. "It's getting dark. We should find a tree now." About half an hour later, they found the perfect trees.

"Alright. We leave at Sunrise." Cecil said to Kain. as the two climbed up seperate trees. "Goodnight Kain." Cecil said.

"Goodnight Cec." Kain said. The two began to wonder where they be without one another.

Despite sleeping in a tree, they slept well. Sunrise came on them quickly, and almost immediately they were off. Even though they were waking up so early, they still felt refreshed. However, they were hungry. Kain still had some food left, but Cecil had none. No sooner, he thought that, he saw a Swordrat sniffing the ground. Cecil lept from his tree and buried the Dark Sword into the mammals back. The Swordrat let out a shrill squeal before croaking on Cecils blade. Cecil took a chunk of meat out from the creatures chest and cooked it. Kain took some for later, and so did Cecil, however Kain wasn't hungry at the moment. Cecil ate the salty meat quitely, so as not to attract to much attention. The left the rest of the beast where it was, the Imps could finish it off for all they cared, and the two set off towards the Chocobo Forest.

Cecil felt he was learning something from this trip. He was actually enjoying it, he thought that he would be dead by this point in time, and if it weren't for Kain, he would have been. The two walked, and by the afternoon, they reached the Chocobo Forest.

The forest itself was smaller than Kain had remembered, but was still rather large. The trees were thick, with a small clearing in the middle. Kain tried his hand at catching a chocobo. He stalked it... stalked it... pounced on it. He missed, the large yellow bird ran away into the overgrowth.

"Damn it." Kain was dissapointed. The last time he entered the Chocobo forest, he caught chocobo's for him AND his two friends.

"Kain, my mother used to have a saying. I can't quite remember it, but it has something to do with honey and vinegar. Watch me." Cecil grabbed a juicy looking plant and held it in front of the chocobo. The bird crawled out from it's hole to take the veggie. Cecil scratched the chocobo's ear and the bird nuzzled it's beak into Cecil's chest. It lowered it's head, it had approved Cecil. Cecil jumped onto the chocobo's back and rode up to Kain.

"Say 'I told ya so' and I'll fucking cut you Cecil." Cecil laughed. Kain did exactly as Cecil had done, muttering the words "Stupid bird," quite frequently. Eventually, Kain catched a chocobo and the two set off again, this time for the Mist Cave. Afterall, the mist cave had to be passed before the could get into the villiage of Mist. Cecil started thinking about the ring. _I don't see how a ring is important enough to send two soldiers out. Why was Cid acting so strange though? And why does the ring warm up, the more I think about it. _A sudden noise broke Cecils concentration.

Two Floateyes had appeared from the nearby forests. Kain threw his spear at one of the bat-like creatures, peircing it's one, gigantic, cycloptic eye. Cecil blocked the Floateyes attack with his darksword, it was a heat beam attack, and it refected off the blade and hit the Floateyes left wing. In no time at all, the creature was in flames. It screeched as it fell to the ground. Kain arced his Chocobo's course and retrieved his spear. The night was falling, but the two in a valley and were almost at the Mist Cave, thanks to their Chocobos. After a half an hour of riding the Dark Knight, Cecil, and his good firend, and Dragoon Knight, Kain where outside the mist cave. They, however, decided to camp, recover some strength and enter than cave in the moining. They were already a day ahead of schedule, what the harm in resting? They finished their Swordrat meat and went to sleep, nestled in between a couple of rocks, Tomorrow, thier mission would be complete.

Wow, this was a fun chapter to write. SOO fun I did all of this in one day! Amazing huh?, yeah, well most of this stuff is added. What's so exciting about Cecil and Kain silently killing stuff? OK, It does work in some cases, mindless slaughter where the main character is mute (Grand Theft Auto III, Chrono Trigger ect.) However, that doesn't work for me. Really, this chapter would suck balls if there was no talking in it.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Mist Cave

"Cecil..." Cecil turned around, He appeared to be in a dark room. There was nothing here. Actually he wasn't sure if he was even in a room. He felt very claustrophobic, although, there appeared to be no end to the darkness. As far as he knew, he could be dead. What he saw pushed that belief further. Cecil saw himself standing opposite from him, some three metres away. He appeared to be leaning against a wall, and for a dark place, he could see himself rather well. The fake Cecil looked at the reall one. "Fuck you Cecil. Look at you, look what you've become! Fuckin' puppet." Cecil was frightened, and shocked. It's not everyday he actually SAW himself abusing him. To be honest, it scared the hell out of him.

"What do you want?!" Cecil yelled.

"For you to see past your own selfish wants Cecil. All you can think about is being promoted. People, no, a whole race of people are going to die, and it's gonna be your fault."

"How? how is anyone gonna die?"

"Fuck you dumb-shit! Didn't you ever wonder why the ring got hot whenever you thought about it? Didn't you even think why Cid looked so frightened when he saw the ring? Didn't it even strike you as odd, how the king of Baron wanted you to take a red ring to Mist, if there wasn't something behind it? ... If I were you, I would wtach out for the King, You know there is something different about him."

"Yes, those things were wierd... But the King's orders are my orders."

"And that's why you left Baron, with barely any food or water. The King doesn't care if you die out here... Actually, sending you alone pushes the belief onto me that he wanted you to die..." The true Cecil thought about what he, in a sense, had said. It all made sense... However, he was almost finished the mission. "Do you really think that your soldiers are going to respect you if you do become captain again?" The false Cecil asked, drwing his sword. The true Cecil followed his images action, and with the force of a hundred warriors, the mirrored image of Cecil knocked the true Cecil to the ground, and started to push his fist onto Cecils chest. Cecil tried to stab his mirrored self with his sword, and the mirrored one withdrew from the attack. Cecil charged at his shadow, and knocked him to the ground. He raised his sword above the mirrors chest, ready to kill him when the mirror smiled... "Wakey, Wakey Cecil..." Cecil didn't understand. He blinked out of confusion, and when he opened his eyes. He saw Kain, cowering under Cecil's black blade, leaning against a boulder. They were in the valley, just outside the Mist Cave. The grass was damp with mildew, and the yellow rocks were warm in the morning sun.

"What the fuck, Cecil?" Kain said. He was really scared. It's one thing to be attacked by a monster, but it is entirely another to be attacked by a trusted friend. Cecil threw his sword, and it peirced a rock, wedging itself in it. He looked down at Kain and stepped away slowly. Kain started again. "Damn, it was like you were possessed... You were talking about how people were gonna die if we took the ring to Mist... It really scared the hell out of me, Cecil. It looked like you were having a nightmare, so I tried to wake you, and then you attacked me."

"I'm sorry Kain, I guess you startled me..." Cecil said. _What the hell was that vision about? _He guessed it would go never away if Cecil acknowedged it... but why did what the mirror say come out of Cecils mouth? Cecil pulled his sword from the rock it was stuck in and sheathed it. "Come on Kain..." Cecil said. Kain got up and followed his ally. Kain thought to himself... _How could a trip, that started out so fun, turn out so horrible three days in?_

The Mist cave was old. Very old. Journals from the settlers of Baron mention the cave, and that was a six millenia ago. However, it was still holding up, and exactly as the journals had described it. Thick fog permeated the air around Cecil and Kain. They could only see a couple of metres ahead, they were in a narrow rocky passage, and the looks on their faces agreed, that this would be a hell of a trial. Cecil was glad to see that Kain was more focussed on what was ahead than what Cecil had done before. Cecil drew his sword... Most of the monsters in the cave would have adjusted to the fog, and therefore, would still be able to hunt down the two Baronese knights. Cecil hugged the jagged wall to the left of him, it was wet, and smelt rather bad. Kain was trying not to let it show, but the area was so confined, he was starting to get cluastrophobic. Kain followed closely Cecil, as Cecil was known to be a valuable assett in times like this, he could use his hearing to check for monsters around a corner without looking, no problems at all. Cecil only turned a corner when he saw a roaring fire, and several Imp sitting around it, cooking was smelt like Swordrat and speaking a strange language...

"Daash guducke?" One Imp asked another

"Thu" One Imp answered, shaking his head. Cecil decided to take advantage of the fact that he could see the Imps fire, but the Imps couldn't see anything near Cecil. He snuck up to the Fire, and due to the fog, it wasn't that hard. Kain followed him, arming himself. Slowly, Cecil waited for an opportunity... The imp continued to speak the ugly language. "Gaha, nesh drem falnahad," The Imp conitinued, he appeared to be telling a story. Cecil clutched his sword, Kain his spear. Kain raised his left arm and extended his right one for aim. He threw his spear, impaling three Imps with the one blow. Cecil ran up, and thrust his sword into one Imp, sliced open another, and then, the Imp telling the story stood and drew his sword. Cecil made an attack, but the Imp blocked it with his own sword. Cecil tried to kill the Imp again, but it was faster than Cecil had expected. Cecil, who wanted to make a fatal blow to the green cheif had only wounded his left arm. The foul beast left out a gruesome scream and brought his sword down hard and fast on Cecil. Kain stuck out his spear blocking the attack, and that is what stopped Cecil from dieing then and there. Cecil unleased hell on the Imp, a dozen quick stabs to the beast's stomach and torso was almost enough to kill it. Cecil lodged his Sword into the head of the almost dead Imp. Cecil removed the dark blade and went back to hugging the wall. Now he knew that there WERE monsters in the cave, at least he wasn't left wondering. For half an hour he hugged the wall untill he found a set of wooden steps leading northwards.

The moment he placed his foot on the step, a swollen purple slug poked itself from in between two of the steps and wrapped itself around Cecil's leg. Cecil dropped his blade, and it rolled just out of reach. He couldn't cut himself free

"Kain!" Cecil yelled. He was surprised to see that Kain wasn't anywhere to be seen, he wasn't following closely, like he had been for the last, almost an hour. A gigantic, sickening moth slowly aproached the trapped knight. "Kain! Where are you Kain?" Out of nowhere a shadow was seen through the thick fog, jumping down from the roof of the Mist cave. It was easily recognisable as Kain. The moth, the root of the worries was gone. Now all that was left was the slug. Easy.

Kain picked up Cecil's sword to hand it to him, but when the sword touched Kain's skin, he froze. All of the malice that went into the blade was looking for a new host, and it had supposedely found a host... King Baron had always said how Kain would be a great Dark Knight, and now Kain knew why. In a state of momentary madness, Kain saw a cloaked figure. He was in shadow, so Kain couldn't see the specifics, however, he was almost 6'5" and wore heavy amour. Then he spoke, his voice had a chill in it.

"There are ways you could be promoted Kain. If it weren't for you, Cecil would be dead by now anyway, saying he had fallen in combat would have you being promoted... Or it could be suicide, you are holding the hilt of HIS blade." The figure chuckled evily.

"Kain, you gonna help me man?" Kain broke away from his vision. He slowly handed the sword to Cecil. Cecil pierced the larvae through it's abdomen and broke free. "Come on, we're almost there." Cecil knew what the look on Kain face meant. _So, he's had a vision too..._ Cecil didn't want to bring it up though, they weren't exactly the most pleasant things in Baron. Cecil and Kain climbed the high set of steps in silence, and very carefully moved forward. They were at the top of a small cliff either side, but the area the could walk across wasn't as confining as the passage that they had just gotten through. The two followed it around to see a single Imp, sitting by itself. This Imp on it's own wasn't really a threat, however, Imp's are normally pack monsters. They are always in a group. Caution was applied to the on the Imp. As the two drew closer, they saw that it was crying. It grunted and spoke to the travellers.

"Doan't worwy. I woan't kiwll yoo." Cecil didn't ready his weapon, but he did make sure he could get to it easily.

"What's wrong?" Cecil said coldly. Kain whispered to Cecil,

"Cecil, what the fuck are you doing?"

"Yoo're fwrend needsh to shtop being sho shuspishish of Drol" Cecil asked the Imp again, what the matter was

"The utter Imp'sh kicked poor Drol out frum hish pack. Nutting bad. Not dat yoo hoomansh woold care." Cecil, despite hating the Imp's deeply felt sorry for the one who called himself Drol. "Now watch Drol guing too doo?" It turned around to face Cecil. His face was badly burned. "Watch the outshide wold like?" Drol asked Cecil.

"It's very nice" Cecil said, wanting to move on. Kain couldn't believe Cecil was conversing with an Imp, and niether could Cecil.

"Drol unly efar live in cave. Doo hoomansh mind if Drol takesh them out of the cave?" Drol asked. Cecil couldn't believe his luck. An Imp who can find his way through could get them out in under half an hour. Cecil agreed, Kain however saw all Imp's as deceptive. Drol lead the two through the cave. After getting around a corner, they found that they were almost off of the ledge, and suddenly, in both Cecil and Kains heads, a deep female voice called out to them.

"Turn back..." The two didn't know what it was.

"Who's there?" Cecil yelled into the mist.

"Drol be here, no-one elsh tho." The two kept following Drol as he lead them through, occassionally saying something spiteful, sounding in Imp-tongue. Kain hoped it wasn't about them. Cecil and Kain could just see the door, when three Imps came from behind the group of three.

"Drollendarkk rrept gassa! Drollendarkk highne!" one of the Imp's yelled. He charged toward Drol and sliced their own species through the middle.

"What the hell did you do that for?" Cecil yelled.

"Impsh not help hyomansh. Drollendarkk ish traytoar." The Imp said. Cecil cast DarkWave, and the force sent the three Imps down a hole. in the middle of a cave. The two knights ran for the way out... then they heard the voice again...

"Leave now!" It said, yelling at the two telepathically. Kain couldn't resist. He had to break the tension...

"Is this the Phantom Beast talking?" Kain joked

"Kain! Is this really the time for jokes?" Cecil scolded his friend.

"Just trying to break the ice Cecil." Kain told Cecil.

"I like ice, leave it alone. Look, you can joke as much as you want when we finish the mission." Cecil told Kain. After a few more steps, they heard the voice again.

"You're from Baron... Aren't you..." The voice said.

"Who's there?" Kain yelled into the fog.

"If you turn back now, no harm will come to you..." The voice said. Kain wanted to turn back.

"Hey Cecil, let's just turn around, man."

"NO! we NEED to deliver the ring to Mist. It's the only thing I can do to get my job back!" Cecil said. There was no use in argueing with him at this point.

"Then I have no choice..." The voice finally said. All of the mist in the cave gathered around Cecil and Kain to form a gigantic dragon. It was a white, blue colour, over twenty feet tall, and almost double that in length. The dragon was seemingly solid, however, when it came down to the cretures feet, they were a little transparent. Although the knight's didn't notice, the cave was entirely clear, and unlucky for them, all the creatures were going blind because of the light NOW.

"The Phantom Beast..." Kain siad. He was more worried about actually being right about the creature existing than what he was up against. Cecil ran to strike the enemy, and to Cecils surprise, the monster recoiled in pain and charged at Cecil. Cecil evaded the attack and slice down on the dragons neck.

"Well, aren't you gonna help Kain?" Cecil yelled. Kain jumped in the air and pointed spear down. Wherever he would land is where it would hurt. However Kain didn't land. As strong as he was, the beast was stronger. As swift as Kain was, the beast was swifter. The dragon reared it's head and opened it's jaws. Kain's body was dangling by his left leg. After using Kain as a chew toy, the dragon threw Kain against a wall. It was amazing to see how much damage compressed fog could do to someone. Kain had severe gashes in his leg, they went straight to the bone as well, and to make matters worse, he was knocked out. Cecil could feel all of the anger inside of him well up. Nothing would hurt his best friend and live to tell the tale... "DarkWave!" Cecil yelled. Cecil didn't expect the Mist Dragon to absorb the wave of energy into it's being. Then something happened that Cecil didn't originally count on. The Dragon split up, and the cave was exactly as it was before. Cecil turned to tend to Kain, He rubbed some emergency potion into his wounds, and made Kain drink the rest. Kain was at least now awake, however he was still bleeding heavily, and was groggy.

"Thank you Cecil," Kain said.

"Shh... Don't speak, save your energy for your recovery."

Cecil turned around to see that the Dragon was still alive. Cecil slid under the beast and pierced his chest with the Dark Sword. The Dragon gave a cry of pain and lowered his head to see who had done this. The dragon snapped it's jaws to get Cecil in the same status as it had done with Kain. It suddenly stop snapping at Cecil and went screamed a horrible scream. Cecil crawled out from under the Phantom Beast to see Kain pulling his spear out from the creatures skull. It gently reared it's head to look at Kain, and when Cecil saw the anger in it's eyes, he knew that it wasn't dead yet. Cecil raised his sword with one hand, and brought it down hard, decapitating the dragon. It was dead.

Kain limped towards the exit of the cave, while Cecil ran to get a potion from a nearby chest.

"Kain, drink this, and I guarantee you'll stop bleeding. You'll still be a little sore but you won't die on me." Cecil pleaded with Kain.

"Cecil , I owe you my life..." Kain said.

"No, not your life. Just your pay!" Cecil joked with Kain. For someone who could have been dead by now, Kain took the joke pretty well. The finish line was in sight, but little did they know, it was more of a start line for their near futures...

Well, there's THAT chapter done. Sorry it took so long to update, but with the holidays, I've been pretty busy. The next chapter will have Rydia's entrance into the story. I think I need to work on my action a little more, but they boss fight wasn't too boring to write. I'll look forward to more criticism, ect. PS: I've changed the Cid/Rosa thing, my bad (again hit's self sorry) and I've taken typo's out of all of the chapters so far. I put some more description into the dragon now, (thank you Fake Flower, the description was up my ass) and added in a little of my twisted humour into that part of the fic. Brace yourself for an emotional chapter next, and this chap will last until the cave before Tellah makes his appearance.


	5. Chapter Five

Chapter 5: One Mission Ends, Another Begins...

Upon leaving the Cave of the Mist, Cecil and Kain were blinded by the light surrounding them. They had almost forgotten what the colour white even looked like. After spending over an hour in a dingy, damp, foggy cave, the hot midday sun was blinding. Cecil looked at the ground.

"Hey, Kain, can we stop and wait for our eyes to adjust?" Cecil asked, still staring at the ground. Even the wet grass was too bright for Cecils eyes.

"The sooner that we get there, the sooner the mission is finished, the sooner that we get back. I, myself, am looking forward to a home-cooked meal, a cold beer and a show at the Baron theatre." Kain said. He really wanted to get back. He had done his helping. Cecil wasn't depressed OR bitching about having to walk. They were ahead of schedule and Kain was still homesick.

"But, we can get the beer in Mist, I supposed" Cecil said.

"True, but it's a summoner villiage. I don't want Ogre piss, because their summoning 'backfired'." Cecil laughed, although the joke was a little on the low side.

"Look Kain, we'll be back before the week is up." Cecil assured Kain. "The mission is pretty much over. If I could see, I would be able to see our destination." Cecil added. Kain had a joyful look in his eyes.

"Then what the hell are we waiting for?" Said Kain, beginning to run towards the east, towards Mist. Cecil, unhappily followed his friend, although not quite at the same pace. Cecil learned on this trip, that Imp's can live anywhere. By mountians, in the open, in the forest even in thick fog, but the place the dwell the most is in your way. There were two of the sitting on a rock.

"I've had enough of those damn Imps." Cecil complained. "Oh, well. Once I'm captain again, I'll never have to see another Imp again." Cecil stated. He charged at the two Imps, sword in hand, and thrust his blade through both their heads in a single strike. Withdrawing the sword, he saw a pendant worn around one of the Imp's necks. It was made of gold. A coin. On it was a crudely carved Imp on it. Cecil took it. Not because it seemed to have alot of value, just because it was a trophy. No matter how small. Kain came back to Cecil.

"Hey, hurry up Cecil, we're almost at Mist!" Cecil looked east, and noticed how close it was. The small town was almost deserted, apart from a few odd looking people around. The buildings themselves were almost rubble, with a few normal looking ones. Cecil and Kain both ran up to the town, as fast as they could. They walked towards the centre of the town, and as soon as he reached the town, he remembered his objective.

Cecil reached inside of his pocket for the ring. The voice of the image sounded in his mind.

"Cecil! It's not too late to turn back! PLEASE CECIL! DON'T TOUCH THE RING!" Cecil ignored the warnings. Cecil grabbed the ring. As he took it out, it was abnormally hot. Not burning, but not far from it. He held it in his hand. Then, suddenly, it got scorching hot. Cecil recoiled his hand to survey the burn it had left on this hand, and when the gold band hit the ground of the villiage, that's when he knew that the vision was right. A flame engulfed the village, and a horrible, round red demon was unleashed from the ring. It flew around the villiage in an absolute fury, setting more fire onto the, already cinderous buildings. Cecil took a step back.....

"What is this?" Cecil asked in horror.

"Is this why you were sent here Cecil?" Kain asked in fury.

"WHY? King Baron.... NO!" Cecil wailed. "Kain! come on! we HAVE to help any survivors!" Cecil said, running around the villiage, desperately looking for survivors. Everyone he saw was being swallowed by flames. Then Cecil found a survivor. She was a little girl, maybe only ten or eleven. She had medium length, green hair, green eyes, and was only about 4'7". Her skin was lighly tanned, and she was crying by a dead woman. Although, the woman appeared to have no burns on her.

"Mom, no!" the girl cried. Cecil grabbed the girl be her arm roughly.

"Come on, we have to get out of here!" Cecil told the girl.

"Mom's dragon died..... So mom also...." The girl sniffed. Kain realised it before Cecil had.

"Shit... the Phantom Beast...." Kain said to himself. Cecil looked puzzled, then he finally realized it.

"Dear god... I... I killed her?...." Cecil said quietly, though, no matter how quietly he said it, the girl heard him she wrestled away from Cecils tight grip on her. She stepped back a couple of paces with a shocked and angered look on her face.

"You guys killed mom's dragon?" The girl yelled, Cecil tried to talk his way out of it.

"We didn't know..." However the girl didn't seem very forgiving. These two killed her mother, even if it was an accident. Kain spoke up.

"The King sent us here to kill the summoners," said Kain, looking at the girl. Cecil was shocked at what Kain had said, like he knew all along. "Unfortunately, our orders.... We have to wipe out this girl as well!" Kain yelled.

"Kain! What the fuck?" Cecil yelled at, who he thought was his friend, but what is a friend, if they keep you in the dark about another humans life? Kain pointed his spear at the girl, showing no feelings towards the things he had said, the mother he had killed, and the frightened child. He, after all was doing Baron a favour. The summoners must die. Every last one of them......

"Cecil," Kain reasoned, "If we disobey our orders, we'll be executed for treason." Kain approached the girl slowly.

"But she's just a child!" Cecil argued with Kain. He stepped in, pushing Kain back.

"Are you saying we should defy the King?" Kain smiled at Cecil evily. Cecil pushed Kain back afew paces. An explosion was heard in the distance and Cecil saw the bloated, ugly demon, still reaking havoc in the south of Mist. Cecil pointed at the destruction around him.

"If the King expects us to murder like this!" Cecil yelled, "I have NO intention of following him!" He drew his sword and pointed it towards Kains chest. "And if YOU follow him, then you are my enemy...." Kain showed no reaction to Cecil, apart from a sick joy, deep inside of him. "I renounce ALL loyalty to the King! to the Red Wings! and to Baron!!!" Cecil bellowed. He pushed Kain to the ground and leared over him.

"Cecil, I won't let you oppose the King alone...." Kain said remorsefully.

"Kain?" Cecil wondered what the hell was going on. _Oh great he's gone fucking schitzofrenic on me._

"As much as I owe the King, as a dragoon I could never preform such a lowly deed." he said. Cecil was surprised._ But you almost did...._ "It would bring shame to my fathers spirit....." Kain said as he threw away his spear. The young summoner just sat there absorbing it all in.

"Then you really didn't intend to..." Cecil said. This was the worst possible time for one of Kains jokes.

"Baron is the strongest military power in the world." Kain begun. "Just the two of us opposing it would mean nothing against it's might. We must warn other countries of Barons treachery and call them to our aid! Only then will we have a chance to triumph!" Kain said. It's amazing how people can change in such a short span of time.

"Thank you Kain....." Cecil said. "I'll save you Rosa." Kain thought that last line was kinda corny, but what does it matter?

"I'm not doing this particularly for you though." Kain said. _Again with the changes_, Cecil thought. The demon flew above their heads. "Anyways, it's too dangerous for us to stay here, lets go!" Kain said. Cecil grabbed the summoners arm, almost snapping it in two.

"Hurry up!" Cecil pleaded.

"No!"

"It's too dangerous here!" Kain informed the girl. Maybe she didn't notice that she was the last summoner left. Maybe she didn't notice the demon burning the town to ash.

"Let go!" She yelled, breaking free of Cecil's grasp once again. She grabbed a large staff from her mothers side. It was too big for her but she could manage. she raised it above her head, her right hand behind her head, holding the weapon at it's base, and her left hand, holding the weapon mid-way down, more as a guide. "You deserve to die!" She yelled.She struck her staff on the ground of the dieying villiage of Mist.

A gap in the ground opened behing her. The ground shook and quaked beneath the two warriors. Kain fell down on the ground, but Cecil held his sword in both hands, in front of him. A giant hand held onto the ledge of the gap. It was red and dirty. A similar, manlike body heaved itself from the side of the cliff. It had purple hair, vacant yellow eyes, and was extremely muscular, standing at a good nine feet tall. Kain got up and threw his spear at the creature. On impact with the things torso, his spear broke down the centre. The monster beat it's chest and punched the ground. A shockwave tore the earth, right down the middle. Right down to where Cecil and Kain were standing. The mountains around the villiage crumbled away, smothering the eastern part of the villiage. Dust covered the air around them and all three of the people passed out. What happened to the huge monster is anyones guess.

He woke with a pounding headache. Cecil got up and brushed some of the dust off of him. He was in a clearing in a thick forest, with a narrow path leading to the east. There was one to the west as well, put it was blocked with large boulders. He looked around and the only living thing he could see around him was the girl. This both relieved him and startled him. Where was Kain? He ran to the blocked path yelling for his comrade.

"Kain!" He yelled "Kain!" He started to move away as many of the smaller rocks he could see, however, there was no answer. "Is he.... dead?" Cecil asked himself. All he could do was try and save the child, there was time for mourning later. He walked up to the child, she was unconcious at the moment, and he slung her over his left soulder. He looked in his items bag for a potion, and there were a couple of empty bottles, but all of the potion had been used for Kains wounds.

He walked a little further when he found a small stream. Taking his time, he forced all the water he could into the summoner. Cecil made sure that he was well hydrated when he refilled both his and Kain's water bags, and both potion bottles. After doing this, Cecil went back out into the big wide world.

Cecil stepped into the latter part of Mist valley, it was alot like the earlier parts. High mountains gazed down on Cecil from above and long grass marked his path from below. Cecil began to run. Anywhere he could find civilization was good. Anywhere he could find a place to let the girl rest was good. Anywhere he could get to Baron, and save Rosa was good as well. The world doesn't have very many good places in it. By night fall Cecil was out of Mist Valley, but he was entering a desert. The desert streched as far as Cecil could see, but still, he kept on walking. He didn't know what monsters dwelled in these parts, and the longer he could go on not knowing, the better. Without any set direction Cecil kept walking, his sword drawn at all times, just as a precaution. He was lucky he did. Still carrying the young summoner, he saw a huge Sand Cetipede. The thing was taller than Cecil was, and he was at least 6 foot, accompanyed by two Desert Sahagins. Cecil stabbed a Sahagin through it's red, dehydrated stomache, however, it still kept fighting. It latched itself onto Cecils arm and bit into it. He screamed in pain and slashed the currently impaled Sahagin through the middle, upwards. He spun around and decapitated the over Sahagin, when the Centipede wrapped itself around Cecils middle. He dropped the girl, and thrust his sword through the bugs skull.Cecil fell sharply to the ground, landing on his back, however he got up and picked up the summoner of Mist. The monsters in these regions were much more skilled than Cecil had expected, and Cecil now knew not to under-estimate their strength.

Cecil was on his third day through the desert. Most of the water was gone and he was ready to give up and die, but in the distance he could very faintly see a distant town. It was this small, blurred image that fuelled him further. He continue north-west when he fought his second battle in the desert. This time he was lucky though, he had fought these enemies in the Mist Cave. Two of the maggot-like creatures, and two of the Moths, similar to the one that Kain had taken down, except now Cecil could see them better. They were ugly, purple things. Freakishly huge, but not large enough to carry Cecil away. Maybe they could drag him though, if they tried. On their wings was a pattern depicting two, angry-looking eyes. Cecil knew he could take care of them easily, but fatigue was setting in. It was at the point where he couldn't feel hunger or thirst, only a general pain, specific to no part of Cecils body. Cecil clutched his sword the best he could, but he was still fighting to stop it dropping to the ground. He beheaded the maggots in one clean sweep, but after that, he couldn't focus for long enough on the Moths to be able to hit them. Wit hgreat luck, he took them out with a well aimed DarkWave, however, the force of the spell sent him onto his back. After fifteen minutes of rest, and some water, he set off again. The weight of the girl was beginning to pull Cecil, and slow him down. He lost track of time since then, and by some random act of god, he didn't come across any other fights. Then he reached it, the object of his dreams.... The Desert Oasis of Kaipo.

Kaipo was protected by a thick, yellow brick wall, and the town was made of a similar material. The ground however was made of a dark concrete, a similar colour of his armour, not black, but not blue either. He looked at the girl in his arms. She was only just breathing, as her heart rate had slowed right down She lay there, limp Cecils arms. _She has lost alot of wieght_, Cecil noticed. _If she doesn't get some GOOD rest......_ He looked around the town, and headed north to a nearby Inn. The Inn itself reminded Cecil of home. The thick stench of flowers stalked Cecil as he approached the Innkeeper. Before he had a chance to explain the situation to the Innkeeper, he took one quick look at the summoner.

"Go ahead sir, she looks ill. Don't worry about money." This really was Cecil's lucky day.

"Thank you." Cecil responded, hurrying the child into the room. He carefully placed her down in the closest bed to him. Almost immediately, she opened her eyes. Cecil smiled. He saved her life. "You've come to....." The girl looked away from him. He didn't blame her.He was responsible for the death of her mother, Cecil didn't expect her forgiveness, ever. "You haven't told me you're name yet," Cecil pointed out, trying to make some conversation. She still remained silent. "Look. I can't ask you to forgive me for killing your mother....." Cecil began. "But please. Let me protect you." Still no responce came from the girls lips. Cecil got between the sheets of the next bed. And bean to sleep. It was good to sleep in a proper bed. The clostest Cecil had had was a treetop, and the bed felt better after three days of non-stop walking, under the burning desert sun. The girl looked at him briefly before closing her eyes to go to sleep.

A noise woke the two in the middle of the night. The Inn door opened, and four Baron soldiers marched through. A general and four lower soldiers. The general pointed his blade at the girls chest when Cecil knocked the sword to the ground.

"We've found you, SIR Harvey...." The General said. Cecil read the badge. "Baron, The Red Wings" it said and it had a pisture of Baigan engraved into it. The girl was scared stiff.

"Wait, the King of Baron is..." Cecil was cut off. He wanted to tell them of King Barons genocide solution.

"After you? We know." The genral said. "If you turn over the life of the summoner, you will be forgiven for your treachery. It is deemed dangerous for the people of Mist to even exist."

"What?" Cecil asked in disbelief. "Has the King stooped so low as to kill children?"

"Spare me the lecture and give me the girl!" The general demanded.

"I refuse!" Cecil fought. He stabbed the generals right arm, and he dropped his sword, grasping his wound and recioling in pain. It took the bloodbath of his lesser War-Pigs to make him stop, and that was only because his death was iminent. The Red Wing bolted out the door and out, into the desert, where certain death awaited him. He turned back to the summoner Her life was, once again, saved. Thanks to the man who murdered her mother.

"I'm sorry, this is my fault..." The summoner said.

"I should be the one apologising. What I did cannot be forgotten.

"But... You.... Protected me...." The girl said, on the verge of tears. Cecil stayed silent. "I'm Rydia." She introduced.

"Thanks.... Rydia......" Cecil said, feeling slightly forgiven. "I will protect you. I will be your guardian."

The two woke around midday, they were both exhausted for the two previous days, but they were both refreshed now. Outside of a house there was a huge swarm of people.

"All these people form Baron. Another one collapsed outside of this villiage." Cecil overheard two poeple saying.

"Really? I heard about the baby-killer and the army, but what this one?"

"A young girl, maybe eightenn, though she may even be twenty."

"What she doing out here?"

"Well, she was dilerious, with a fever, and she kept calling out 'Cecil, Cecil'." Cecil pushed everyone out of the way. Particular force was used with the one who called him a baby killer. Cecil shoved through the people with Rydia calling after him. the house was owned by an elderly couple, and woman living in the house wasn't not exactly happy that Cecil was barging through her home. That didn't stop the ever-determined Cecil though. He ran to the back room where he saw an all-too familiar face.

"Rosa!" She was lying under the croche'd blanket tossing and turning, allthough she seemed to be unconcious. Cecil knelt beside her body. "Rosa....." Rosa remained silent, although she was moving. Cecil felt her head. She had a fever. When he touched her head, Cecil was sure he saw a brief smile on Rosa's troubled face. She suddnely cried out in pain. "Cecil! Don't leave me Cecil!" before going back to her slumber. The owner of the house walked to Cecils side.

"She has Desret Fever......" He informed Cecil.

"Will she be alright?" The Dark Knight asked. Although he didn't cry, not like in his room the night before leaving Baron on his hellish journey, this was the saddest time of his life to date.

"Well, that depends." The man began. "If we had the Light of the Desert, she would be good as gold in no time. Without it...... She could be dead in no more than two months." Cecil was struck by the man's words.

"How do I get the Light of the Desert?" Cecil demanded.

"Well, it's only ever found in the antlions cave, east of Damcyan." Cecil left the house. He had heard of the Light of the Desert, it was an elusive gem that cured Desert Fever.

"Rydia, you stay here in Kaipo." He asked. It was too dangerous for her to follow him.

"No!" Rydia yelled. _I've really had enough of your fucking arrogance Rydia._

"It's too dangerous for you."

"But.... You're my guardian...... What do I have to worry about?" _I wished I hadn't said that._

"Fine then!" Cecil gave up. "Rydia can you wield a bow?" The Dark Knight asked.

"Yeah, why?" Rydia could handle a bow. Better than she could a staff anyway. Cecil marched into the weapon shop. It was a small place, but it had a few weapons, but most of them were for beginners. The friendly merchant caught Cecils attention almost instantly.

"Hello there sir! and what can I do you for?" Rydia cracked up with an imature giggle.

"Ew!" The girl cackled. "That's just gross!" She continued to laugh. The merchant eyed her carefully. Cecil thought about how little she SHOULD know about that kind of thing.

"What do you want Rydia?" Cecil asked. Rydia suddenly bacame more serious.

"Can I PLEASE have a try of the bow?" She asked politely. The merchant warmed up and handed her a bow with an iron arrow to try it out with. She turned to the bullseye on the wall and took a pulled back the string. The weapon was almost as large as the girl was, and no matter back she pulled she string, she couldn't get enough tension out it. She let go of it, and the arrow hit the board before dropping slowly to the floor. She picked up the arrow and gave the weapon back.

"Anything else?" The merchant asked.

"Can I PLEASE try the mini-bow?" she asked again.

"Most certainly little miss." Cecil admired the man's patience. He handed Rydia a beautifully decorated mini-bow.

"Thank you!" Rydia expressed her gratitude. She held it. It was perfect for her size. He loaded the arrow into it and drew back the string. She aimed carefully and released..... Bullseye!

"Congratulations little miss!" said the merchant clapping. Rydia turned to Cecil.

"Can I have this one?" She pleaded.

"Sure. How many arrows will you need?" He asked, counting out his gil. Over two-thousand.

"How many can you get?" She asked. It's true, that she would need alot, two-hundred should do the trick. Cecil turned to the merchant.

"Two-hundred arrows." Cecil asked. The merchants eyes lit up when he saw the money.

"I'll tell you what. I'll give you three-hundred for being a great customer....." He said smiling, he turned to Rydia, "and a free quiver to the little girl for being such a great shot." He said, handing the equipment to Rydia. "You gonna go hunting with your dad here?" The merchant asked playfully." Rydia reaked a teency-weency amount of well, havoc right about..... now.

"ACTUALLY he's not my dad. He murdered my mother and burnt down my villiage before bringing me here!" Rydia said with a mischeivous grin on her face. Cecil was dumb-struck.

"Thank you for your service," he managed to get out before leaving the shop. "Rydia! What the hell was that?" Cecil asked her.

"Well, you said that what you did should not be forgotten.... The more people know, the less likely it will be for people to forget." _Damn her logic._

"Alright. We still need to do some shopping before leaving here. Will you promise not to do that again?" Cecil pleaded. "Or you might have got carry all those arrows in your arms instead of in a bag.

"I'll be good!" Rydia said.

"Alright. Next we need to get some water. I can refill here, but with our limited storage, we probably won't get to Damcyan."

"I'll refill the ones we do have at the lake!" Rydia said.

"No... I think that you should come with me." Cecil said. Who else could she tell about Cecil's relationship to the girl.

"Fine then." Rydia pouted. Cecil walked into the armour shop. It was alot like the weapon shop, although larger with places to sit down. It was a combined Item shop as well, just while the Item shop was being built. In the corner of the room was a hairy ma..... a hairy thing eating Eblanese Shangta. He had funny clothes blue and yellow clothes with a large N on his hat. Cecil was wary of the creature.

"Two backpacks please?" Cecil asked. The merchant here looked alot like the one in the weapon shop, although this one had a thin beard. Were they brothers?

"Cert'nly sir!" The merchant said cheerfully. "Theres gonna be a bit of a wait, but I should have them ready by tommorrow mornin'. Is that okay?" Cecil didn't want to be held up anymore, but did he have a choice?"

"Sure, I guess."

"Great! and what material do you want it to be made out of?" Cecil looked around the room, and surveyd the materials there were. There was only Leather and Cloth.

"I'll take leather thanks."

"Great! amd how large do you want them to be.

"They should carry enough food and water to get us to Damcyan. Plus room for Potion, Antidote, an Echo Screen and maybe a Maidens Kiss, just incase. Also," Cecil pointed at Rydia. "A pouch for her to carry three-hundred arrows. Include the items, as well."

"Certainly. Can we have pay now? I'll include free dinner!" Cecil paid up. There was only 50 gil left. He hope that there would be enough for an Inn tonight. The two got ready to leave the shop, when the strange thing in the corner jumped in front of thier way singing.

_"If you hate you're name_

_It's your parents you should blame_

_Namingway can make the change_

_Even if he do act strange"_

He would make a good basker if he weren't so damn annoying. Rydia lapped it up however.

"Oh! Oh! Can you call him...... I know! How about......... Frioniel!" Rydia said, referring to Cecil.

"Call me that and I'll slice off your head." Cecil threatened the thing called Namingway.

"Don't be angry with poor Namingway!" The thing said.

"And call me...... Ooh! call me DAGGER!" Rydia asked enthusiastically. Cecil pulled her arm out the door. "Hey, what was that for?" she asked. Cecil didn't answer but instead, went to the lake to fill up his water containment. It's amazing how clear water can be, even if it is in the desert. The last thing that needed to be settled was the room.

"Back for another night?" The innskeeper asked.

"Well that depends." Cecil answered. "How much is a room?"

"50gil for the night." the innskeeper informed. "That's with a free drink from the bar upstairs." He added, pointing upstairs.

Cecil looked in his pocket. A fifty gil note was all that he had. Even still, he could afford it.

"Fine." Cecil said confirmatively. He placed the fifty gil note on the counter. "By the way, came you tell me what the thing in the armour shop was?" Cecil asked.

"Would it be armour?"

"No, that 'Namingway' thing."

"He is what he says. He can change the names of people and cast a spell so that everyone will call them by their desired name." _I figured that._

"Thank you." Cecil looked up at the clock on the wall. It was dinner time. "Rydia, you wanna get some dinner yet?"

"Of course!" she said enthusiastically. I'm STARVING."

"At least you'll enjoy it." Cecil said. The two walked to the Armour shop.

"'Ullo sir!" the merchant said. "And what do you want for dinner?"

"I'll have a Swordrat burger please. With bacon, cheese, and something spicy..... maybe a Fabulian sauce on it."

"Absolutely. And what would the little girl want?"

"I'll have..... hmm.... a piece of Sahagin, a piece of Swordrat and some Cura-Cola.

"Sure." Almost immediately it was handed to them. It was the best thing Cecil had tasted, well, only due to his immence huger at the time. Rydia finished hers in two gulps, but it took Cecil over half an hour to finish his burger. Cecil wanted an early night. He had a beer from the bar and got ready for bed. While he getting ready, he found something in his pocket. The pendant from before. He set it down and Rydia picked it up.

"What's this?" She asked Cecil.

"I wouldn't have a clue." Rydia clutched into it tightly and the pendant began to glow brightly. The light blinded Cecil and he shielded his eyes. The glow faded out and the pendant dissapeared. "What did you just do Rydia?" Cecil asked, almost frightened. Rydia just smiled at him radiantly.

"You'll see." She said before going to sleep.

The morning sun shined through the Inn window that hot morning in Kiapo. Every morning here was a hot morning in Kiapo. Cecil and Rydia said their goodbyes to Kaipo and just in time. It was starting to look like thier good friend the weapon seller had forwarded the information that Rydia told him. The two collected their bags from the armour merchant, not his cherry self on this morning however. He silently handed over the bags not saying anything to him. The bags were surprisingly lightweight, and they still had everything Cecil needed. The two had outstayed their welcome, but they would still return. They would return to the desert oasis of Kiapo.

OK, so it didn't last until the cave before Tellah was introduced. It's still longer than all my other chapters, SO BE THANKFUL DAMMIT! Yes, I added references to other FF's in the Namingway scene (What? You could tell?) although, ONE of them had a meaning behind it: Let me explain.

It's no secret that FF4 Easytype Edition was released in the States as FF2, Frioniel was the main character from FF2, the real version. If you were playing FF2, that's what the main character would be called.

OK, so theres not as much meaning as I promised you, but don't deny it's existence!

It's taken a LONG time to update. Damn school. Hope you liked this chapter here people.


	6. Chapter Six

Chapter 6: The Man in Black Fled Across the Desert and the Summoner Followed....

The Antlions cave was east of Damcyan. Damcyan was the herritage of Baron. All of the Baron settlers had originated from Damcyan. The one-hundred or so people trekked across the deserts for over a month. God knows what they were looking for. Actually even He would have some trouble pinpointing their objective. Now Damcyan was almost empty. It's region covered the Damcyan desert down to Kaipo, with a mountain range cutting the region in two. Damcyan itself was just a castle. No villiage, and there were very few people living in the castle. It wasn't like Baron in any way, shape or form. Cecil was glad of this fact.

The hot morning sun hammered Cecil's amour. He was hasty in his movement across the desert. Rosa's pain fuelled him to go on further into the desert. No matter what, he would get the Desert Light for her. Rydia has trouble catching up to her gaurdian. Cecil was taking long strides but Rydia was running. Running and still lagging behind Cecil.

"Hey, Cecil.... Can we stop for a rest?" Rydia asked, hopefully. Hope is easy, but sooner or later, reality crushes you with a swift kick in the gut.

"No. You should have stayed in Kaipo, Rydia." Cecil did not want to be delayed at all. Time meant Rosa's life. Time was something he couldn't throw away.

"Come on Cecil. Don't be mean." Rydia said.

"Don't guilt me, Rydia. Rosa's life is on the line here. I will save her or die trying."

"You really like Rosa, huh?" Rydia asked inquisatively.

"I love her more than anything else on the world...."

"I thought so. Does she love you?"

"I hope so." Cecil began. "We've known each other for so long..." Although Cecil had known Rosa all of his life, they had only been friends since they started school. In thier teenage years, Rosa had a rough patch with Cecil and Kain. The two friends were always fighting over her, and it made her feel like shit. She always liked Cecil however. Kain just wanted to fight with anyone, or so Rosa seemed to believe. Although Cecil was sometimes a little sceptical of Rosa's feelings towords him, they were always there.

"Well, she did come all the way out to Kaipo, didn't she?" Rydai said, breaking Cecil's concentration. Cecil didn't reply though. Rydia pondered if it was really possible to love someone so anti-social. Cecil was always a nice man to Rydia. He didn't know he was killing her mother. If he would have known, he probably wouldn't have even fought her. He just wanted to finsh the 'mission' and, in turn, end up killing all of the summoners in the world. Only Rydia was left. Unless, of course she 'mated,' but, to be honest, the thought repulsed her.

The gentle sound of scraping metal sounded in the Kaipo desert as Cecil unsheathed his sword. He turned back to Rydia.

"You get ready too," he whispered to her. She couldn't see anything. Just a shadow in the distance. It was miles away from where they were. Almost instantly, the distant shadow wasn't so distant anymore. It was coming close quickly. Cecil raised his sword and thrust it forward. The moth crumpled up it's wings before dropping off of Cecils blade. In the distance however, there were more shadows.

An army of monsters were travelling south.... Travelling towards Kaipo. Rydia took the time she had to fill he quiver, while Cecil let her use his sheild. He only hoped that she would survive. "Rydia! Shoot them down!" Cecil yelled. He knew that she had a good shot. She lined up her arrow and shot. A shadow in the distance went down. Cecil was lucky that she had so many arrows. There were still a heinous amount of creatures in the distance. Another arrow flew past Cecils head before striking a creature in the stomache. It was an army of Desert Sahagins. The march stopped. Every creature turned to look at thier fallen comrade. The one who seemed to be their leader Raised a long jagged rock, which was probably used as a weapon. A battle cry echoed across the desert and the force charged towards the two. Did they stand a chance?

Rydia took down two monsters, followed by another two. It made fuck all difference though. Cecil took a deep breath before the fight began. The stench of death was in the air. Cecil gagged and clutched his weapon tighly. Cecil jabbed his sword out in front of him. It killed to of the army. He swung the blade in an obtuse angle, decapitating three. Rydia was holding up well, herself. so far ten of the enemy had faced her hand of doom. Until the 'commander' came. He was armoured in leather, with a chest plate of steel. The weapon he held was blackened and charred, as if he tried to forge the rock into a decent weapon. Rydia closed her eyes.

_Drassh neear, gondiar thiielen gi dra warrtar, Gtier Bahamut. Uo hagh fola guh uo niidean who halh. Drassh neearne kallahja...._

_Hear me, great god of the summons, King Bahamut. I am small and I need your help. Hear my plead...._

A single gut splitting sound peirced the air. Rydia opened her eyes. An Imp was pulling it's blade out of the Sahagins throat. there were only ten Sahagins left, and Cecil made light work of them. A familiar voice spoke.

"Yesh. Ootshite waold ish feery nishe. Daark niite not li to Drollendarrk. Cecil turned around, but only to see the bloodied corpses of his enemies. Drol had saved him from an almost certain death of Rydia.

Cecil examined the commanders equippment. There was the rock 'blade', some good armour and, of all things, money. Quite a bit of it, too. almost 3000 gil. He put it in his bag and sat down.

"Sit down Rydia. Have something to drink." Cecil said. Rydia was rather shaken by the fight. They came through rather unscratched, with all odd's stacked against them.

"That'll slow us down."

"Weren't you just complaining about how we never get to rest?" Rydia looked at the ground. She had a little bit of water, and some dried Sahagin." Cecil chuckled to himself quitely. After slaying so many Sahagin she would still eat one in an instant.

Then Cecil's mind wondered to the equippment of the enemy. Why would the vile thing need money of all things? And what the hell did he 'craft' his weapon with? Did they even have leather in the desert? He got up and began to run towards the mountain range ahead of them.

"Cecil! WAIT FOR ME!" Rydia yelled at the dark knight. She could catch up to him though, due to the adrenaline of the previous fight.

Nightfall came on them quickly. Because of their quick pace, they were almost at the mountain range, and out of the Southern Damcyan desert. But they couldn't rest. There was nowhere safe for them to do so. It's not like the journy to Mist. There were plenty of trees to sleep in, and safe places came conveniently at sunset.

"Are you hungry Rydia?" Cecil asked her.

"No, Cecil." Rydia said. It was obvious that she was lying to him. She had kept on all day, running through the desert. Not once did she complain, bar the start.

"Well, have something to eat anyway. We've done well, Rydia." Cecil sat down in the soft sand. "Shall we sleep tonight? Or go through the cave?" Rydia yawned. It was obvious what she wanted to do, but what if she got sick? When someone uses the phrase: 'When hell freezes over,' after being to the Southern Damcyan desert, that wasn't such an unlikely concept. So that's one case of Desert Fever, would you like Pnuemonia with that? "Shall we get to the mountains before we rest?"

"Can't we rest now?" Rydia moaned.

"Yeah, but there'll be shelter at the mountains. Do you want another army of monsters coming after you in your sleep?" Rydia remained silent. "It'll only take another hour to get there." Rydia opened her mouth in disbelief and yelled.

"An hour!?" She'd just had to walk fo ten, and Cecil wanted another?

"Yes, an hour would see us off of the desert, at least, then we rest for the next day, the day that will take us through the mountains..."

"How long till we get to Damcyan?"

"Well, it'll only take two or three days, if we continue at this pace. If we stop now, and at this same time everyday, that'll take time off. Not to mention the risk of a Desert Sahagin dissemboweling us while we..."

"OKAY! WE'LL KEEP GOING!" Shrieked Rydia, horrified. Cecil showed an evil grin.

"That's what I like to hear..." Cecil chuckled and gathered their things. The shock tactics he had used had worked. He was almost certain that the majority of Desert Sahagins had been wiped out in the previous onslaught, but this dark warning had gotten him some attention.

I know, it's a pretty pitiful chapter. Especially when I haven't updated at all in what seems like forever. To be honest, I wasn't thinking of continuing it at all. I need more CC, or it will stay at this (rather low, IMO) standard, and hey, at least I would be fueled to write the next chapter! so PLEASE CC my fic. You know you want to :naughty:

You may have noticed that I have added little titles to the chapters. I have done so with the other chapter, as well as brought up their standard, but I haven't posted them yet. Cookie to anyone who gets the Stephen King reference in the chapter title!!!!


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: The Cavern to Damcyan

The night was bitter cold. Cecil looked over to Rydia. At this temperature he was living on a hope that she would survive through the night. She seemed to sleep peacefully enough. She didn't look too cold, either. She lay there, sprawled out on the icy grit beneath her, carrying her dreams in it's grey hands. Cecil sat there. He wasn't quite tired enough to get to sleep in this, almost non-existent heat. He thought for a couple of hours. Hoping that Rosa wouldn't die while he was out on this nightmarish trip. A trip to a place Cecil didn't even know existed until he saw the body of his love twisting under temporary madness. Crying out for Cecil.... But Cecil didn't answer. He never even touched her. He just sat there feeling sorry for himself. Sifting through his thoughts made him drowsy, and eventually, he fell to sleep.

A low rustling noise carved into Cecils dreams. He opened his eyes to find an Imp with it's back turned to Cecil. He also found the source of the rustling noise. The bastard was rumaging through Rydias bag! Cecil quietly drew his sword and pressed the blade against the Imp's stoumach. He spun around, clefting flesh. He looked towards Rydia. She was still asleep. Cecil decided to bury the body. The hot stench of decay didn't make the most pleasant thing to wake up to. Especially when your dreams the night before had been perfectly sweet; uninterrupted. As soon as Cecil had covered the carcuss, which now lay in it's shallow grave, Rydia woke up.

"Mornin' Cecil!" She said cheerfully. It was almost as if she had a good sleep the night before. Who knows, maybe she had, but if she was anything like Cecil was, her night had been utter hell.

"Good morning Rydia." Cecil croaked dryly. "Have something to eat now. We're going through the cave as quickly as possible.

"You sound like you had a good sleep." _Is she joking me?_

"Not really. It was so damn cold."

"What are you talking about Cecil?"

"Are you numb or something? It was freezing!" Cecil yelled hysterically.

"No.... It was warm last night. Warmer than most."

"Are you finding this funny or something?" Cecil snapped. "How could anyone find that warm?"

What Cecil failed to remember, was that Rydia had lived her life in a remote desert villiage. For her it was a warm night. Rydia shrugged off Cecil's attitude. She got some dry meat and nibbled away at it.

The harsh desert wind whipped up the sand around them. The day was suffocatingly hot. Cecil glanced around. He was on guard, feeling a little bit vulnerable from the night before. The day seemed to have brought peace. But peace was not ahead of it. Cecil knew that when Rydia and he entered the cave, they would be facing terror worse than nightmares they had experienced before. Once stupid move could throw them down, into the abyss that stared at them from below.

Cecil had faced death countless times before, but this was the only time when he was really scared. He was scared because he didn't know what to expect. Military actions are planned by some great 'mastermind' who doesn't care who he kills. Nature attacks randomly, and throws it's weight at you a moment after it lends you a hand. Nature was unexpected.

Rydia finished her meat and gathered her things. She slung her bag over her shoulder and began to decend into the cave.

"Wait!" Cecil yelled frantically. "What the hell are you doing?!" He asked. His voice shook the child and chilled her spine. He wasn't just mad. He was hysterically angry.

"Well, Rosa's not going to get saved if you just sit there, staring off into space Cecil. I plan to save her. I don't know what you're trying to achieve though."

"You don't go into there alone!" Cecil bellowed. "You're not even armed, you stupid child!"

"That's still a hell of a lot more than you're doing, Cecil!" Cecil looked at his equipment, scattered across the barren land in front of him. He then turned to Rydia and saw a fire burning in her eyes. He then smiled.

"Rydia. You're talking to me like an adult, and you're taking responsibilty. I am proud of you." Rydia seemed slightly annoyed.

"You mean.... you were just doing this to test me?" Cecil chuckled to himself.

"No. I was pissed off alright. Walking into the cave alone was a stupid thing to do, Rydia. Even if it was just a couple of steps."

Cecil gathered his things and drew his sword. On the palm of his right hand there was a scar. It was from where the ring that set fire to Rydia's villiage had burnt him. He still didn't have a clue what the vision meant. But it hadn't pestered him since he had brought the depths of hell to the surface of the earth. Since he murdered all of Rydia's friends and family. He shruged off the past. What is important is the future. He wouldn't let himself be hindered by past mistakes. Rosa's life was being fondled by the hand of God and he has a mean grip on him. Cecil entered the Water Cavern.

The cave was damp. The stench of rot hit Cecils nose and almost sent him backwards. It was overwhelming. The cave was illuminated by the cracks in the mountian, travelling for miles up. The sound of a powerful river swept through the cave.

Cecils eyes adjusted and he saw that the river spanned a descent three metres in width, and an unknown length. It sounded like it went on forever. For all Cecil knew it did. Perhaps it just kept going down and down, through an endless tunnel into the earth. He saw the source of the rotten smell. The body of a merchant lie there, insects and animals feasting upon his dead flesh. His skull was cracked open and a trail of dried blood mark a path down a jagged rock, the top of which was crowned with brain matter.

Rydia stepped forward. Her bow was readied, and she had the weapon raised. She scanned the area, looking for creatures. She walked forward slighty and saw nothing. Cecil looked around him. Ahead of him was a wooden bridge.

"Rydia." He whispered through the dim lighting. "Follow me." Cecil and Rydia crossed the bridge. The wood began to bow under Cecils weight.

PLING! He heard Rydia's bowstring release. He looked down. A huge yellow toad collapsed into the waters, an arrow stuck out through both of the reptiles eyes. Another Toad lept up from out of the water and onto the land at the end of the bridge. Cecil ran, sword in hand. He shifted his weight in front of him and charged towards the toad. The bloated creature was about Cecil's hieght, which made it even easier form him to penetrate the toads ribcage. He pulled out his blade, and thick purple blood sprayed ahaead of the dieying monstrosity. Cecil walked past the heavy carcuss and across the solid, rocky support beneath him. He came to a small cliff which he climbed up but Rydia couldn't.

"Rydia. Theres only a couple of chests here. Wait for me, and keep a look out."

"You'd better not leave me here." Why would Cecil do that?

"Rydia. I swore that I would protect you...."

"You tried to leave me in Kaipo though." She had a point. Although, there wasn't the imminent risk of death that was here in the cave.

"Rydia. You have my word. I will not leave you here."

Cecil trudged on and opened both the chests. There was a potion and a weird peice of cloth, marked with a ring of lipstick. A Maidens Kiss. He had heard of it before, in an ancient legend. They worked against the metamorphic spell, 'Toad.' He didn't know weither it would be very useful or not, but it took up virtually no space, so he took it with him anyway.

"Cecil?" Rydia said. She sounded frightened.

"I'm here."

"Have you opened those chests yet?" Cecil answered by jumping down from the rock face. "Did you find anything else up there?"

"Nope. Nothing."

"Then... how are we supposed to get out of here?"

"If we keep following the river, it's got to lead us to another bridge." Cecil walked across the bridge and the summoner followed. Rydia was halfway across the bridge when it snapped and fell beneath her. She jumped and latched on to the side of the river. Her feet her almost in the water. If she touched it, the current would wash her away. Cecil clutched Rydia's arm tightly, almost snapping it in half. To complicate things further, a Jellyfish creature was climbing it's way up the rocks, to get to Rydias feet. Cecil pulled her up and put her down harshly. He stabbed the gelatinous monster and trudged on, not helping Rydia up along the way. The summoner dusted herself off and followed her companion. Actually, she wouldn't really call him that. He didn't show enough love or compassion to be her friend. Although Cecil cared about her deeply. There was an old saying which went:

A friend will bail you out of jail,

But a good friend will be sitting in the cell with you saying, 'We fucked up.'

Cecil had shared a lot of lifelong memories with Rydia. Maybe even more than he had with Kain.

Cecil followed the flowing water until he came to another bridge. Taking more care than he did with the last bridge, he held Rydia's hand as he walked across. There was a small patch of land, marking another bridge, at ninety degrees to the previous one. He was shocked to see a figure standing on the bridge. He drew his sword and sneaked his way up to him. He raised his blade and let it fall, gaining it's own deadly momentum. The figure turned around, raised a rod and a magically barrier appeared, intercepting the strike between the clod steel and the mans neck. It was a man. He was elderly, perhaps in his late sixties and carried a staff with him. He was dressed in a purple robe, and had a long white beard and hair. His long face was decorated by a pair of thick glasses. He was obviously a powerful mage. Could he be from Mysidia?

"Watch where your vile blade falls, Dark Night. I shall not reward you with death, if you can help me." Cecil held his blade back but did not sheathe it. There were still many a wonder in the Water Cavern, and most of those wonders were deadly.

"That depends on what you need help with..." Cecil said through his teeth, not letting his guard down. The great mage gave a half smile.

"My daughter was tricked by a lowly Bard who had cast a love spell on her," the mage began. "Not only that, he pulled her into Damcyan against her will."

"What do you need help with?" The mage lowered his head slightly.

"I sense a great evil amassing there... I believe that it is the Bard's doing..." Suddenly something clicked in Cecils mind. He had seen this man before. He travelled through Baron when Cecil was just a boy. He reeled back in slight shock. He just tried to kill a great celebrity!

"Then.... You are the great Sage Tellah!" Cecil yelled in suprise. Rydia scanned the cave, bow in hand. She didn't know what creatures Cecil's yelling had awoken. The mage nodded.

"Hmm... Great Sage... It has been many a year since I was last called that. Yes. I am Tellah." Tellah chuckled to himslef softly.

"So you are here to save your daughter?" Cecil asked, as if it wasn't obvious enough.

"Yes. You have guessed correctly, Dark Knight. I would be there already if it weren't for the Bard sending his lowly minions out to block my path..." Cecil found all of this a little bit odd. Bards are normally peaceful people. It was highly uncharacteristic of them to cause trouble like kidnapping, 'amassing evil' and sending 'minions'.

"What do you mean, minions?" Tellah began to tell them of the one whom 'the bard sent to the front lines:

"In the early ages, the ones which we have come to know of as the ages of mythology, the Gate to the Underworld was created. The Master of the Immortal Evils sent to this world, a sentry of the gate. Octomammoth, he called it. Octomammoth feasts upon living flesh, but cannot sense souls. Either we fight the Guardian of Hell or die to get past. That said, not alot of use would there we in death."

"But... You're the great Sage Tellah! You can bring the dead to life!" Again, Rydia scanned the area. The only things that were upsetted by this racket where a group of bats, hovering a good 30 feet up.

"Well, to be honest, all of my spells have gone. I have forgotten them at the moment when the stinking Bard stole away my Anna." This Bard sounded like he needed some sorting out. He could start a war in he wasn't careful, although, Cecil had helped start many. He wasn't one to talk, athough expertise in starting wars brings expertise on preventing them. "With your Dark Sword, we may stand a chance against the powerful Octomammoth."

"I don't know-" Cecil was cut off by Tellah, who had turned his attention to Rydia.

"Oh, The girl is a summoner?" Rydia remained silent, only nodding her head once to confirm 'yes.' "Quite gifted, I sense... There is a possibilty that the three of us may be able to slaughter Octomammoth." The thought of fighting a 'Guardian of Hell,' made Rydia a little quesy. Octomammoth would have to be defeated to continue, and to save Rosa.

"We also must go to Damcyan!" Cecil put into the conversation.

"Wonderful!" Tellah replied. "I will follow you to Damcyan." Just like that, the great Sage Tellah joined Cecil and Rydia, if only for a short leg of the journey.

I said I wasn't going to continue and look what happened. I wrote another chapter. Actually, the majority of this had been on my PC before I annouced the hlat in writing, so I decided to finish this chapter, at least.

What this means, however, is that you won't take me seriously the next time I say "Guys, it's over," now are you?

Anywho, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter, ZC.


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